GTRA defeats 10th-ranked River Valley

Titans hold Wolverines to one TD in second half

October 30, 2013

CORRECTIONVILLE - Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire defense held River Valley to just six second half points and came up with the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter for a 28-24 victory over the 10th-ranked Wolverines on Wednesday.

The first-round 8-Man win advances the Titans to a second-round game versus District 2 rival and third-ranked Newell-Fonda on Monday. The Mustangs defeated Remsen St. Mary's 55-8 in third first round game.

Newell-Fonda was GTRA's most recent loss, a 28-6 contest in Week 6 of the regular season.

Against River Valley, quarterback Brennan Riedemann lived up to his billing. He threw a 10-yard pass to Parker Goetsch and then ran in a 16-yard touchdown as the Wolverines led 12-0 after one quarter.

But the Titans cut into the lead in the second quarter as Kyle Dalen broke free on a 45-yard run and then added the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 12-8.

Riedemann came back and capped a River valley Drive on a 1-yard plunge to push the lead to 10, 18-8.

Again GTRA responded with a scoring drive capped by a 4-yard run by Michael Girres.

The Titans had a chance to take the lead before halftime, but ran out of time at the Wolverine 4-yard line.

But GTRA had the ball to start the second half and a 52-yard pass from Michael Girres to Dalen set up a 9-yard touchdown run by Michael McGrauth as the visitors took their first lead at 20-18.

This time Riedemann answered, scoring on a 19-yard run to return give his team a 24-20 advantage.

But the Titans had final say with Marcus Girres scoring on a 2-yard run. The Titans added the two-point conversion.

A slew of turnovers-two by River Valley and one by GTRA-marked the fourth quarter, but in the end GTRA was able to run out the clock to preserve the win.